Game 9: Warriors 106, Minnesota 98

MINNEAPOLIS – The Warriors finished Friday’s game with Klay Thompson in the locker room and Stephen Curry on the bench, but they still managed to beat Minnesota 106-98 at a quiet Target Center.

The Warriors used a well-balanced attack that included six players in double-digit scoring and some gutsy play in the end to hold off the Timberwolves. Forwards Harrison Barnes and David Lee each scored 18 points, Curry had 17, and Thompson added 12. Carl Landry and Jarrett Jack combined for 28 points off the bench.

With Thompson in the locker room because of flu-like symptoms and Curry on the bench because of foul trouble, the Timberwolves chopped away at the Warriors’ once 15-point lead.

Dante Cunningham had four points during a 9-0 run, and Alexey Shved hit a running layup to cut it to 92-89 with 4:02 remaining in the fourth quarter. But the Warriors made enough defensive stops with their reserves on the floor in crunch time to clinch the victory.

It wasn’t a bad way to start a three-game road trip that ends with games against the past two Western Conference representatives in the NBA Finals (Oklahoma City on Sunday and Dallas on Monday).

The Warriors (5-4) won for the ninth time in their past 11 trips to Minneapolis and have their first winning streak of the season. The Timberwolves (5-4) have lost three of their past four after a three-game winning streak.

Already missing Andrew Bogut (ankle) and Brandon Rush (knee), the Warriors had to use Charles Jenkins and Draymond Green for a long stretch of the fourth when Thompson and Curry went out. But the Timberwolves didn’t feel sorry for them, because they were without Kevin Love (hand), Ricky Rubio (knee), Nikola Pekovic (ankle), Brandon Roy (knee), Jose Barea (foot) and Chase Budinger (knee).

They’re so shorthanded that before the game they signed free-agent Josh Howard, who was rehabbing his own knee injury. He had six points in 14 minutes, adding to Derrick Williams’ 23 points and the 22 of Shved.

The Warriors trailed by as many as 12 points, but they finished the first half on a 21-6 run. During the stretch, the Warriors got seven layups or dunks, including Landry’s layup that gave them a 53-50 lead with 1.6 seconds remaining in the half.

After giving up the opening bucket of the second half, the Warriors reeled off another run. Curry had four points, including a steal that led to a dunk, during an 8-0 stretch that put the Warriors ahead 61-52.